Weekend of play at the Strong Play Museum.

We went to The Strong Play Museum at Rochester for the first time. It is a huge place and can keep you and your kids busy for more than a day. Arav took the whole day to check out the place and we still have more to see..

We would definitely go back to The Strong to have fun, play and keep Arav busy.

Kishkintha

 The day after school closed, we packed up to leave for Kishkintha Theme Park. It was a sudden plan as usual. It took us a while to find the place but once we got there (it was hot and burning and yet) we got busy with exploring the place.

The first section we headed to was the Kiddies Section which was apt for Arav, he rode the Duck train, the Road Train which was more like the room train ( the train chooed chooed in a closed room) and then the big Carousel. The next ride we went to was the Dragon ride which was like a mini roller coaster. It was fun and disorienting. Arav loved it..he even proclaimed it to be the best ride ever! Then came Tora Tora which almost made me throw up..!

After lunch (from Kishkintha's Food Village canteen) we hit the water park. Kishkintha has three sections of pools. One of them have the effect of water waves. It was pretty crowded but enjoyable. There were multi lane slides and tube slides which Sundar tried out. Arav did not want to leave the pool. The water park closed at 6 p.m .

After a quick snack we landed on the lake's edge to watch the Water Ski show. It started well when one of the skiiers slipped and fell on the water while performing a ramp somersault. He was hurt very badly and the show had to be closed for the day. It was a Ski Show gone bad.

The last rides that were availabe were the Go-Kart and the Bumper Cars. Arav accompanied Sundar in the Go-Kart..helmet and all..he looked so cute. We ended Kishkintha with Bumper Cars, another of Arav's favourites.

Race Day:

The MRF international challenge series was here, and since Arav is an avid admirer of fast vehicles we booked tickets for the event. They had bike races and car races (600cc superbikes ,1600 cars and saloon cars) alongwith stunt bike riding. When the cars started to race, the sound was just ear ripping.

The best part of the show were the awesome stunts performed by two bike riders specially brought in from U.S. Arav was totally shocked the first time he saw the bike rider jump off that ramp and glide through the air to reach the other side...then he slowly started to relax and have fun..and then when he saw the guy jump off again only this time he somersaulted in mid-air with his bike..he got really concerned and kept asking..is it safe ma? :)

Birla Planetarium:

We thought it was the right time to take him to the planetarium..he had recently heard about planets in school. So whenever we spoke to him about it he was all questions and wide eyed. It was very typical for a four year old boy I thought..cars,robots,spacesuits. The Planetarium runs a show on planets, comets et all. We caught up with the morning show. Inside the auditorium, it was quiet, you sit back on reclining seats and the dark ceiling lights up with innumerable shining stars. But the background voice can really put you to sleep. It was an interesting visual experience for the first half hour for Arav and then he was just about to curl up and take a nap. Thankfully the show ended and we got out.

We hanged out at the park for sometime before heading out home. The planetarium is good for a half day plan. The show is good but the park really needs to be maintained and well kept.

In space with Appa!

Turn, turn , turn

Watchin intently..

At the Farmhouse:

So this weekend was quite eventful. The weather on saturday morning was very pleasant. Just the right kind to visit the beach. One of the best reasons to be in Chennai! It was daddy's day out because I was out with my mom for a movie and later we went shopping. So while we were shopping in Big Bazaar, the boys were at the beach frolicking in the sand.

Sundar apparently half-buried Arav in the sand ,so that made his day! We all met later in the afternoon at SB for lunch before returning home.

Then yesterday (Sunday)..we had a date with the great Chennai Book Fair. It was crowded, noisy and yet we managed to buy some really nice books for a great price. Arav was very excited that he found Chota Bheem cartoon books. Sundar was excited about a scientific product stall that was selling binoculars and telescopes. And I was all thrilled that there was a stall which said pick any book for Rs.150..and it had all kinds of books..!





We had good fun at yash's birthday party.There was cake, juice, sandwiches, chips. For the first time Arav took a bite of the sandwich which was really yummy.Normally he is only into cake, chips and juice but today was different. Hansel and Gretel where the party was hosted offers to cater to all the needs of the party, right from food including cake, extra accesories, decorations, to return gifts. They don't allow anything from outside. It is a boon to parents who need not worry about organizing skills..they just have to get to the venue.

The Extra Terrestrials are back! We loved it the first time they had this show in the Music Academy. The acrobatics, lights and sounds were enthralling. Mainly it occupuied Arav for a good 75 minutes He even tried some stunts at home much to my disapproval. He has forgotton all about it now...it was I guess a year and a half when they turned up.
I went ahead and booked tickets yesterday for two..because Sundar almost never makes it with us for any of the shows! Psst:It's not that bad..we hardly miss him once the show starts ;)

Show tickets are available online ar www.etwow.in/chennai

We went to St. Thomas Mount on Saturday. Finding this place was exhilarating for me and Arav.

Arav thoroughly enjoyed the view from the top. I had been there about 20 years back, when i was in primary school..it was pretty much rock and sand. Today, this place stands as a landmark for anyone visiting Chennai. It has a quaint church at the top, a couple of charitable institutions even a school, and a hostel or college i was not sure.

The only wierd thing were the notice boards kept out there to ward away couples"this is a holy place and is not to be used for the merriment of pairs"!!

Movies of the month:

We went for a couple of movies with him so far without incident.

How to train your Dragon:
I think the best movie we have seen so far this year. Arav loved it and wants to see it all over again. The animation was wonderful and the Dragons don't talk.

Princess and the Frog:
He liked it in bits whenever there was something funny. I found the croc funny and cute. Arav had a lot of questions about the firefly's death.We went with Jaya and Adyanth again another first. I will never forget the "Wear your Helmet" Ad which had an horrific accident audio along with heavy breathing and a loud heart beating and slowly stopping.It was screened just as the children were settled down to watch the movie! Scared me to Death...

Shrek:
It was 3D and Arav was not comfortable watching it through those goggles. Finally only Sundar ended up watching the movie. I had to take him to blur and occupy him with simulated video games for a while.

June 21:
Tiya's Birthday party:
The first time Arav danced at a party would be here. He enjoyed the party and the music..ate cake and had a lot of juice.

He sang Happy Birthday and clapped his hands for Tiya who was turning 3 that day. She happens to be my cousin's daughter.

He can Swing on his own! He suddenly figured out the way to do it and man was he happy.He was squealing all the way up and giggling all the way down..he was waving his tiny toes and just couldn't stop swinging for half hour !

Wedding Day:

Laven's Big Day today. Got up real late and turned up on the mandap just a few minutes before they tied the knot! The muhurtham was from 6:00 to 7:00 a.m. Whew! Atleast I did not miss it! Arav was still sleeping when we got him to Lavenya Chithi's Palace as he refers to the Kalyana Mandapam. He was dressed in an orange kurta that we got him for Diwali and which was too big for him at that time but it fits him now.

Sundar came out with some beautiful shots of the mandap and the couple..that was before he became delirious with fever!. He was totally exhausted in this marriage as if it was his own and went into viral fever for 5 days.

After a real long time someone in my family decided to get married! Laven's reception today and we were all excited. The reception was very nice,everything worked out smoothly. Arav was dressed in time...so was Sundar.I dressed at the venue with professional help! Laven was looking gorgeous and the atmosphere was great.
Arav was looking absolutely cute with that embroidered Kurta and Pyjama. He played on and on with Rahul who is a real skinny 10 maybe 11 year old kid filled with freakishly immense amount of energy!

Happy Birthday Baby!
Sundar was on leave for a day and we took Arav to Landmark and made him shop for three things...only. We had to reiterate that atleast a million times. But then he did choose only three toys for himself and he loves each one of those mainly because he chose them all by himself.

He chose the firetruck (we saw that coming); a pair of swords (made of some soft material whose name i forget) and a little beginners keyboard (which we kind of thrust into his face time to time)..so there we got him to choose three things on his own and he did it...

What's more he even decided to exit that toy zone gracefully (no drama)..which even adults find hard to leave. So the Gods were with us.

It was wierd not to cut a cake on this day but we wanted him to enjoy a day out with us..and it paid off.

The weekend trip to Pondicherry was an eye opener. We were very comfortable with Arav ....whenever we were in the Hotel Room !

We never once in those three days had a decent lunch or dinner together at the restaurant..no..now why would we need the experience of having lunch or dinner with friends..we have our Hotel Room.

With Arav around, i think i am allowed to be cynical.

And yet there were good times, like when we discovered that Arav loved swimming in a pool. We had a great time there, and he was flapping his arms and legs and enjoying himself.

And of course he liked the company of the mischievous duo Vyas and Rhea..

And we had a lot of fun entertaining Arav in the Hotel Room...oh i know i keep repeating Hotel Room a lot right?

Because that's exactly where we went over the weekend...Hotel Room !

It's been long since I filled out the blog..so many incidents and milestones in Feb...

Feb 18, 2007: Arav goes bouncing up and down when held upright. The best part of it is when he squeals and giggles while bouncing...soo much fun..!

Feb 19, 2007: Pintoo tasted Rasam for the first time! He had a disgusted expression but that's what he does when tasting somethin' new...soon he wanted more..! yummy yum yum..

Feb 24, 2007: Arav visited his first Ayyapan temple in Perambur..

Feb 25, 2007: Pintoo sleeps over at Amma's house sans Ma/Pa for the first time..!

Feb 26, 2007: Arav was taken to Shruthi's place without me/Amma/Sundar...and surprisingly he was quiet, he even took a nap there..! some stranger anxiety that is..
The same day there was another first for him..Arav made the trip back home in Uncle's Bike..! Wow...now that would be negligence..but what the heck he had fun..:)